By KEN de la BASTIDE and MEGHAN DURBAK, Kokomo Tribune staff writers
The Indiana Department of Transportation appears to be using the Boy Scouts motto of "Be prepared" in the event Tipton County becomes home to a new transmission plant.
Kokomo and Tipton County are the two locations still in the running for a $560 million joint venture between DaimlerChrysler and Getrag for a new plant that would employ 1,200 workers.
The potential Tipton County site is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of U.S. 31 and Ind. 28.
An INDOT survey crew has been at the site since Monday, and work isn't expected to be completed until next week.
"We're getting ready," INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield said Wednesday. "It is huge for us to develop a road project."
Wingfield wouldn't comment on any potential development at the site.
A survey is the first step toward any road improvements at the intersection, he said.
Engineers would then do a study to determine what work needed to be done, followed by an environmental impact study.
"Once that was done, a plan would start to be drawn up," Wingfield said. "If we have to acquire right of way, a public hearing would be scheduled.
"Property owners will be the first to find out," he said. "They have rights, and we have regulations."
Wingfield said the scope of the work has not been determined and will depend on the needs of the development.
A cost estimate and timeline for schedule is unknown, he said.
Wingfield said the project could include widening Ind. 28 to four lanes and additional turn lanes at the intersection.
"We're just being proactive if the plant actually comes," he said. "When the [Indiana Economic Development Corp.] comes and makes an announcement, that's when we'll go into full gear."
"I want to emphasize that we're at the very earliest of the early stages of this process."
Steve Oprisu, surveyor from INDOT, said the state is looking at improving the corner and possibly widening Ind. 28.
Bill Keir, executive director of the Tipton County Economic Development Corp., said he was aware of the survey work taking place, but didn't know what improvements are planned.
"During the U.S. 31 Coalition meeting on Monday, we talked about the area between Carmel and Kokomo," he said. "There are scheduled improvements, but none in the near future."
The work at the site has property owners in the area talking.
Some say though they are hoping the transmission plant comes to Tipton County, they are concerned about the impact on their businesses.
Debbie Neff, owners of the Sherrill family's "Eat Here Get Gas" diner, said when she first saw the surveyors, she thought "Chrysler's coming."
Neff said if the Tipton County site is chosen, it will help her business immensely.
"We've had a small business going for 33 years," Neff said. "We'd like to expand."
But, at the same time, she doesn't want to see a negative impact on the gas station owned by her brother, Mike Sherrill.
"I don't want it to hurt the station at all."
Neff also owns a home directly east the station, which she says she's willing to sell to the state.
On the other hand, Mike Sherrill's wife, Becky, is frustrated because she has more questions than answers.
"I was concerned when I walked out my front door [to the gas station] to go home and saw my lot sprayed off," she said. "That's the part that contains the underground gas pipes."
"[Tuesday] they were out here surveying. I wanted to know what they were doing, and they couldn't tell me," Becky Sherrill said. "They used the words 'top secret.'"
"Those were the wrong words to use," she said.
Though she's excited about the prospect of a new venture, Becky Sherrill was concerned. If the state takes portions of their property, they'll lose their business, she said.
She's spoken to INDOT members since, but won't be satisfied until they can tell her specifically whether they intend to acquire her property or not.